 |
What a great time of the year this is! Albeit unseasonably warm, you can just feel the spirit of Christmas and the holiday season in the air. We will be sending out a seasons greeting to all at the end of the month but personally, from my family to yours, we wish you the brightness and hope of the season and wish you peace and prosperity in the year ahead.
Please make sure that you take some time to review the co-op marketing opportunities for 2016 if you didn't attend one of the two meetings this week. Some of the opportunities are sold out at this point, but that was to be expected. There are some great, affordable, and integrated options.
The 2016 Official Visitor Guide is at the printer and will be delivered in the next few weeks. In the Welcome Center section below, Jennifer tells us how many of our Door County Innkeepers are offering to have a Visitor Guide mailed to those making reservations - talk about customer service! If you have any questions about extending this service to your customers, let us know. Simply brilliant!
I would like to thank all of you for a terrific season and for everything you do to help the Door County brand be everything it can be for our visitors.
Best wishes and Merry Christmas,
Jack Moneypenny, President/CEO
920-818-1131
|
|
|
MARKETING & SALES
Michelle Rasmusson, Director
|
|
ANNOUNCING: THE 2016 CO-OP ADVERTISING PLAN
 We are once again offering our members advertising opportunities through our co-op program. To keep up with changes in consumer media consumption and trends, we've revamped a few opportunities and added several other new and exciting offerings.
The full plan is available HERE for download. You must submit a completed and signed CONTRACT to secure your ad space. Reminder - all ad space is available on a first come, first serve basis. Sign up today!
|
|
|
COMMUNICATIONS & PR
Jon Jarosh, Director
|
|
Media
Media assistance was provided to 14 journalists/media outlets in November and 5 thus far in December by providing images, information, on-air/on-camera interviews and/or support for Door County based articles and stories. A few highlights include the Chicago Tribune, Money magazine, Cobb Life magazine, Timberland.com, Endless Vacation magazine and Travelgirl magazine.
Media Coverage Highlights
Door County was part of a story headlined "Wintering in Wisconsin" that ran in the Sunday December 6, 2015 issue of the Chicago Tribune. Check out the online version of the story on ChicagoTribune.com here.
Door County is part of a TV show titled Aerial America: Wisconsin, a program from the Smithsonian Channel that highlights parts of Wisconsin through aerial footage. Door County's segment runs 2:32 and is viewable on the Smithsonian Channel's web site. To watch the clip, search Aerial America Wisconsin or click here. Episode is scheduled to air on the Smithsonian Channel on Jan. 2, 2016 at 11 AM central time.
Evansville Living magazine included a great 4-page article about Door County in their Nov/Dec 2015 issue. Check out the online version of the story from EvansvilleLiving.com here.
The Big Bundle Up 
The Door County Visitor Bureau is inviting anyone to drop off new or gently used coats, sweaters, hats, mittens and other warm clothing items as part of the Wisconsin Department of Tourism's Big Bundle Up campaign. Door County is participating in this statewide collection program, which runs until Jan. 3, 2016. Items can be dropped off at the Door County Welcome Center anytime or at one of several other drop-off sites around the county (complete list here). Collected items will be redistributed back to Door County residents in need. For more information, check out the media release on DoorCounty.com or call me, 920-818-1133.
|
|
|
MEMBERSHIP
Phil Berndt, Director
|
UP YOUR GAME with InnLine Enhancements!
Make sure you've put Your BEST foot/photo forward before potential visitors start pouring over DoorCounty.com looking for travel ideas after the 1st of the Year!
BIGGER, BETTER IMAGES!  We've all heard the saying, "a picture is worth a thousand words" and, as cliché as it is, it has never been more true. From social media to web design, the focus is on bigger, better images and during our recent redesign of DoorCounty.com we made it possible to enlarge your photos with the click of a mouse, however, chances are we need a new photo from you to take full advantage of this fabulousness! No additional charge. Click HERE to find out what we need from you!
MORE PHOTOS! If you're really looking to pump up the effectiveness of your InnLine Page, consider the impressions you'll make by adding a snappy slideshow to your page with InnLine's Additional Photo Enhancement. This snappy feature embeds a Five-photo Slideshow on your page to really show off your business - AND, they can be updated as often as you like!
TELL YOUR (Whole) STORY! Some businesses just don't fit into a standard descriptive paragraph so, if one of those businesses is YOURS, consider the satisfaction of being able to express yourself in 200 characters or more (a LOT more) with InnLine's Unlimited Text Enhancement. The idea is to set the hook while you've got their attention on DoorCounty.com with details that are unique to your business and important to your customers and their Door County experience!
FREE: PRINTED DOOR COUNTY MAPS
We have an excess of printed DOOR COUNTY MAPS we need to GET OUT of our garage to make room for the 2016 Visitor Guides! Great for Visitors, Guests, Schools, Crafts, etc.
|
Exceeding Expectations
We've noticed a wonderful trend among our lodging partners that we'd like to share. When taking a reservation, they are asking their guests if they would like a copy of our 2016 Official Door County Visitor Guide mailed to them - and then they simply enter the guide request for them on our website. Ta Da! Instant Hero Status!!!
Any names entered in the month of December will be added into the first mailing for the new 2016 Visitor guide in January. So as you are confirming reservations or booking guests for next year you could enter their name to receive the guide instead of having them call us to get it. (We get a lot of calls here stating "I asked for information and they told me to call you to get a guide".) Why not go the extra mile and offer to enter the name for them. It's easy to do it on the web site.
2016 Visitor Guide Delivery
Deliveries of the 2016 Visitor Guides will start in January. Everyone, who is open, will automatically receive a case of 25 books. If you would like more than one case dropped off, please contact Jennifer at: (920) 743-4456 or jennifer@doorcounty.com to let her know how many additional cases need to be added to your delivery.
Winter Guides
Anyone in need of more Winter Guides should also contact Jennifer so we can arrange to have them dropped off.
Nature of Romance Promotional Gift Certificates
Since this is our busiest gift certificate processing time please call ahead if you need Nature of Romance Gift Certificates so we can have them ready for you, as they do require extra time to process.
Help Spread The Joy!
Please make sure you and your staff are familiar with accepting Door County Gift Certificates. They can only be spent in Door County and as most people travel a great distance to use them, please accept them graciously and treat them like cash if any change is due. They have received the gift of Door County - please help us make their gift be a great experience! (P.S. We NEED you to accept them - and we'll redeem them for 100% of the face value!) Gift Certificate Reference Sheet
A WIN/WIN FOR ALL OF US!
In the last 12 months we sold $227,000 worth of Door County Gift Certificates and conservatively speaking, if each certificate brings only brings in an additional $500 into our Local Economy, we are still talking upwards of $4.5M in local revenue! This is why IT'S SO IMPORTANT that you train your staff to treat Door County Gift Certificates like cash - because YOU SET THE TONE for their spending while they are here. Gift Certificate holders are looking for ways to spend their money and, if they have change left over, they inevitably end up justifying additional spending - even if the change in their pocket barely begins to cover the cost of the additional item! Do us all a favor and give them cash back if their certificate is more than the purchase price. We redeem the certificates at 100% of the Face Value AND getting your check to you is a top priority. It's a Win/Win for all of us!
DOOR COUNTY MAPS AVAILABLE  The pull-out maps featured in the 2015 Visitor Guide are available on their own in bundles of 100 or cases of 600. As we prepare for the arrival of the 2016 Guide Books next month, we need to get a boatload of these maps out of our garage so, if you know of anyone who could make good use of them in their business, school, organization or artistic endeavor...they are free for the asking - heck, we'll even deliver them if the request is within the county. (We have thousands of them)
Stop in between 8 & 5 Weekdays or 10-4 Sat/Sun to pick them up at our Welcome Center or contact Jennifer to request a delivery. (920) 743-4456 or jennifer@doorcounty.com
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
